LeBron thrills, chills as Heat win streak reaches 23

BOSTON — They say the streak's not the thing, that it's about getting ready for the playoffs.

That's what the Miami Heat said before Monday night's 105-103 victory over the Boston Celtics at TD Garden.

That's what they said after extending their winning streak to 23, now the second longest in NBA history.

Yet after falling behind by 17 early and by 13 early in the fourth quarter, the huddle grew animated.

This was many things, but late-season indifference was not one of them.

"A little emotional, a little fired up on the bench," forward LeBron James said after he punctuated his 37-point night with a game-winning 21-foot jumper with 10.5 seconds to play.

And that's the thing, it matters plenty.

It matters that they passed the 2007-08 Houston Rockets for the league's second-longest winning streak.

"For us to be there, and doing it the way we want to do it, means a lot," James said.

It mattered that they snapped a 10-game regular-season losing streak at TD Garden. It mattered that they snapped the Celtics' 11-game home winning streak.

"It's a special opportunity we have," coach Erik Spoelstra said, "and you don't want to take it for granted."

For a while, it appeared the Heat were doing just that, as they fell behind early, as they allowed Celtics forward Jeff Green to roll to a career-high 43 points, the most against the Heat this season, eclipsing a 40-percent performance by Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant.

It is one that almost could have been excused, with the Celtics not only losing All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo at midseason with a season-ending knee injury, but also losing All-Star center Kevin Garnett for this one with a thigh injury and the flu.

But in Heat-Celtics, it doesn't seem to matter who is on the court, just that it is a rivalry of pure fury. To put the victory in perspective, it is the first time the Heat have won in Boston during the regular season since James, Bosh and Dwyane Wade came together as teammates in the 2010 offseason.

"We had to earn this one, no question about it," Spoelstra said. "They jumped all over us. They were playing at a different speed than us."

And then the Heat began to show a hop in their stop, particularly when James took a Norris Cole alley-oop pass in the second quarter and effectively obliterated longtime Heat nemesis Jason Terry with a dunk as powerful as the one Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan unloaded on Detroit Pistons guard Brandon Knight a week ago.

A congratulatory tweet followed from Jordan.

"I seen him down there," said James, like many Heat players no fan of Terry dating to the contentious 2011 NBA Finals the Heat lost to the Dallas Mavericks. "I guess he didn't see me."

But after the Celtics went ahead 103-101 on a jumper by guard Avery Bradley with 1:49 to play, all eyes were on James.

First he tied it 103-103 on a putback layup with 1:21 to play. Then, after Celtics forward Brandon Bass was off with a layup, James drained his 21-foot jumper over Green with 10.5 seconds left to close out the scoring.

Asked about the play call for James' winning jumper, Spoelstra said, "Make a play. Save us. And he did."

From there, with a blocked shot by Shane Battier against Green and a wayward jumper by Celtics forward Paul Pierce, it was over.

In the process, the Heat wrapped up the Southeast Division title and reduced their magic number to clinching the No. 1 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference to five, any combination of Heat victories or Indiana Pacers losses equaling that total. The comeback also was the Heat's largest of the season, eclipsing a 16-point comeback against the New York Knicks earlier in the streak.

But this is about more than division banners or seeding or comebacks. History still is in progress, whether the Heat choose to admit as much or not.

Yes, it has reached the point where the Heat are quoting Will Ferrell in Talladega Nights. They're winning, and having fun, as well.

In this case the opponent was particularly meaningful. Five years ago to the day, the Houston Rockets' 22-game winning streak, the one the Heat had tied a day earlier against the Toronto Raptors, ended against the Celtics.

This streak? It's showing no signs of ending, with the Heat's next four against the Eastern Conference's worst teams: at the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night, home against the Detroit Pistons on Friday night, home to the Charlotte Bobcats on Sunday night and then next Monday at the Orlando Magic. Each of those teams is at least 20 games under .500.

With the victory, the Heat improved to 12-1 on the second night of back-to-back sets. They are now 16-0 since the All-Star break, matching the best post-break run ever, by the 1999-2000 Los Angeles Lakers.

This one took some of the best of the Heat, with Mario Chalmers adding 21 points, Wade 16, Bosh 13 and Battier a huge defensive stand.

"There's no one in the league that tests your mental capabilities like the Celtics," Battier said. "In the Garden, it's always heated.